Onside kick to start OT isn’t dumb

A surprise onside kick to start overtime in Seattle’s opener at St. Louis left people wondering if Pete Carroll had lost his mind. Risky? Yes. But not crazy.

Under the rules adopted in 2012, an onside kick to begin overtime can make sense. If the Seahawks had recovered the kick and scored a field goal, the game would’ve ended, because receiving a kickoff is an opportunity to possess the ball.

The Rams recovered at Seattle’s 49 and ended up kicking a field goal. So, the Seahawks still had a chance to tie with a field goal or win it with a touchdown. They lost when Marshawn Lynch was stuffed on fourth-and-1 from the Rams 42.

“That is not what was supposed to happen,” Carroll said, explaining he didn’t call for an onside kick. “We were kicking the ball to a certain area of the field and we didn’t hit it right.”

Kicker Steven Hauschka said he wanted to kick the ball further down the field but short of the end zone. Carroll wanted the ball to land around the 15 or 20 away from returner Isaiah Pead to possibly force a scramble for it.

Despite Carroll’s intention and the result, other coaches might want to consider an onside kick to start overtime because they would win the game with any score and still have a chance to score if the other team recovers and gets a field goal.

The trade-off for failing to recover the kick is about 30 yards. The receiving team would start near midfield and need at least one first down to get in field-goal range. But if you have a strong defense — like Seattle — it might be worth the risk.

Rams’ Sims, Reynolds out: St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher said DE Eugene Sims and special teams ace Chase Reynolds have knee injuries that could sideline them for a few weeks.

Fisher said the news was better than expected on both players, who were injured in the opening 34-31 overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks. The coach added that CB Trumaine Johnson (concussion) was feeling better.

Fisher said running back Tre Mason, who was among the game-day inactives with a hamstring injury, was a close call. Fisher is hopeful Mason will play this week at Washington.